Kidnapping

As the investigation into a 10-year-old Northridge girl's kidnapping and sexual assault continued, an L.A. County supervisor criticized the so-called realignment program which transfers authority of some felons from state prisons to county jails. The circumstances of Tobias Dustin Summers' July 2012 release from custody were not clear. Police said Saturday that the 30-year-old had a criminal history dating back to 2002 that includes charges of kidnapping, robbery, explosives possession and petty theft.

Tim Willert NORTHEAST GLENDALE -- A 22-year-old Glendale man was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of kidnapping after he forced his screaming ex-girlfriend into his car and drove off, police said. Zhan Barsegyan was arrested at Fremont Park after a witness told police the woman in the passenger seat of Barsegyan's white Lexus was screaming and trying to get out of the car. Bella Stepanyan, 18, of Van Nuys, told police she had just broken up with Barsegyan and stopped by his home in the 300 block of Cameron Place about 10 a.m. Wednesday to return his car. She declined his invitation to come inside to talk and ran away, police said.

LA CRESCENTA Â— News of the kidnapping of a La Crescenta man serving in Iraq has come as a shock to area residents and business acquaintances who knew him. Raad Ommar, 56, who was serving in Baghdad with the Iraqi-American Chamber of Commerce, is believed to have been kidnapped by gunmen along with a group of more than 20 others, according to reports. The State Department could not release much information about the kidnapping, but did confirm that Ommar had been taken.

Darleene Barrientos Charges are pending against a Glendale woman who was being held Tuesday on $100,000 bail after allegedly trying to kidnap a 9-year-old La Crescenta boy at the Glendale Galleria. Kyos Sook Kim, 48, was arrested Monday on suspicion of kidnapping the La Crescenta boy as his mother shopped at the Swarovski crystal store. The boy's mother met Kim at the Ann Taylor store, according to police reports. Kim asked the mother if she spoke Korean, and began speaking to her in that language, police said.

Tim Willert DOWNTOWN -- Glendale police are looking for a 28-year-old Kentucky man who allegedly kidnapped his estranged girlfriend from a Glendale street corner. Robert Damion Ganley is suspected of kidnapping Nicole Taggart, 21, at the intersection of Brand Boulevard and Windsor Road at 9 a.m. Saturday, police said Tuesday. According to police, Taggart, who is six months pregnant, recently moved to Los Angeles from Prestonburg, Ky., to escape an abusive relationship with Ganley, but agreed to meet him in Glendale on Saturday.

Amber Willard PASADENA -- A 34-year-old Los Angeles man is scheduled to stand trial this morning, accused of trying to kidnap a young girl with the intent of raping her. Kenneth Josea Colbert was arrested Jan. 8 after he jumped from a car and grabbed the 8-year-old as she walked on a sidewalk with her mother, who was headed to work, police said. Colbert allegedly released the girl when she and her mother began to scream, police said. He later returned to Harvard and Orange streets, where the alleged attack had occurred minutes before, and surrendered to police.

Of the 70 people charged Wednesday in Los Angeles County with assisting an Armenian organized crime ring, 19 defendants lived in Glendale and six lived in Burbank, according to documents from the U.S. attorney’s office. Local and federal authorities arrested dozens of alleged members and associates of the gang Armenian Power during a massive regional takedown Wednesday dubbed “Operation Power Outage.” FBI officials said Thursday that they are continuing a search for about 25 more people.

Gretchen Hoffman GLENDALE -- A reputed gang associate was ordered on Friday to stand trial on charges that he carjacked, kidnapped, raped and murdered a Glendale woman last year, according to news reports. Jason Thompson, 24, is charged in the Feb. 22, 2001, slaying of Roberta Happe, whose body was dumped in a Culver City park last year. Happe was a 1995 graduate of Crescenta Valley High School. Thompson faces one count each of murder, forcible rape, kidnapping to commit a crime, kidnapping for carjacking and robbery.

Good morning, 818 readers! Today is Thursday, February 26, 2014. Rain is expected to continue today, and temperatures will reach a high of 64 degrees and a low of 52 degrees. Here's our roundup of the top headlines in the area: A concerned residents group filed a lawsuit this week asking a Los Angeles County judge to force Glendale to stop transferring tens of millions of dollars from its utility to the city's coffers and return $90 million it had shifted from one fund to another since 2010.

Glendale police found a 7-year-old girl who had been kidnapped in Alaska two years ago when they pulled over a car in La Crescenta on Thursday for a suspected seatbelt violation, officials said. Police reportedly observed three adults and two girls, a 3-year-old and 7-year-old, in the vehicle which was traveling eastbound on Foothill Boulevard, near New York Avenue, at about 2:40 p.m., according to Glendale Police spokeswoman Tahnee Lightfoot. Two people in the car were allegedly not wearing seatbelts, Lightfoot said.

A 36-year-old man was found guilty this week of kidnapping a Burbank woman in 2006 and then raping her at a hotel in Glendale, officials said. Edward Nikolayan was convicted Monday of kidnapping, drugging, raping and assaulting the woman on Sept. 19, 2006, according to Jane Robison, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. He faces life in prison when he is sentenced on May 16 in Los Angeles County Superior Court in Pasadena, according Robison. U.S. Marshals arrested Nikolayan in December 2009 in New York on an outstanding arrest warrant related to the rape case, according to Glendale police.

As the investigation into a 10-year-old Northridge girl's kidnapping and sexual assault continued, an L.A. County supervisor criticized the so-called realignment program which transfers authority of some felons from state prisons to county jails. The circumstances of Tobias Dustin Summers' July 2012 release from custody were not clear. Police said Saturday that the 30-year-old had a criminal history dating back to 2002 that includes charges of kidnapping, robbery, explosives possession and petty theft.

Los Angeles police have arrested a La Crescenta man they say has been trying to kidnap women and sexually assault them around North Hollywood and Burbank, among other places. Jason Maynard Kies, 37, is being held in lieu of $4 million bail in the Van Nuys jail after detectives arrested him while he allegedly stalked his next potential victim. Police said Kies started attacking women in North Hollywood on March 22. Around 8 a.m. that day, he allegedly grabbed a woman as she exited her car and tried to force her into his vehicle on Ben Avenue between Hesby and Addison streets.

A 37-year-old La Crescenta man accused of kidnapping and sexually assaulting women has been charged with four felony counts, the Los Angeles County district attorney's office said Tuesday. Jason Maynard Kies allegedly grabbed a woman exiting her car March 22 in North Hollywood and attempted to force her into his gray GMC sport utility vehicle, Los Angeles police said. Later that day, police said, Kies fought a security guard after attempting to steal something from a department store and tried to pull a female jogger into his vehicle near Tujunga Avenue and Sarah Street in Studio City.

A 50-year-old El Sereno man was arrested early Tuesday after he allegedly kidnapped his ex-girlfriend at knifepoint from her home in Glendale. Los Angeles police officers found Pedro Rivera's 25-year-old ex-girlfriend in North Hollywood after she jumped out of his 2003 Chevrolet Monte Carlo and ran away, Police Sgt. Tom Lorenz said. “She is lucky to be alive,” he said. Hours later, officers from Glendale's Special Enforcement Detail obtained an arrest warrant and took Rivera into custody about 3:55 a.m. after monitoring his apartment in the 5300 block of Hyde Street in the El Sereno neighborhood of Los Angeles, Lorenz said.

A 43-year-old man pleaded not guilty Monday to trying to kidnap a 6-year-old as she blew bubbles in front of her Glendale home, police said. Mario Moreno faces one felony count of attempted kidnapping and one misdemeanor count of child molesting, said Jane Robison, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney's office. He was arrested Wednesday after a neighbor allegedly saw him try to grab the girl in the front yard of her home in the 400 block of West Milford Street, according Glendale police.

Of the 70 people charged Wednesday in Los Angeles County with assisting an Armenian organized crime ring, 19 defendants lived in Glendale and six lived in Burbank, according to documents from the U.S. attorney’s office. Local and federal authorities arrested dozens of alleged members and associates of the gang Armenian Power during a massive regional takedown Wednesday dubbed “Operation Power Outage.” FBI officials said Thursday that they are continuing a search for about 25 more people.

SOUTH GLENDALE — Two women kidnapped another woman Wednesday afternoon, forced her to withdraw her bank savings and then burglarized her Pacific Avenue home, police said. The Glendale woman, who was unharmed in the incident, was walking home about noon at Pacific Avenue and Oak Street when she was approached by one of the suspects, Glendale Police Det. Keith Soboleski said. The suspect then intimidated the woman and forced her into a vehicle which was occupied by a second woman.